This a rticle highlights the re-emergence and significance of religion in thehistory of education. It focuses on the pervasive nature of religion in the 1920sin two select South Australian Catholic girls' schools. The lives of the studentsare studied in the classroom and broader school community. Student responseor voice is included by use of oral history interviews, and extensive archivalmaterial has been available. As religious practices and environments werestudied, paradoxes emerged. In addition, the duality of these schools as beingboth limiting and liberating became appa rent. Religious belief and practiceplayed a critical role in the gender formation of these students.

There have been several indications in the last decade that the socialsignificance of religion is being reconsidered. In the broader communitythere is significant interest in, and a detente between, religion and s cience.'In the s ub-dis ciplinc of religious his tory, there has been a significantincrease in res earch .' In women's history there has been a steady streamof articles and chapters in books, which relate particularly to religion inwomen's lives." In 1998, two special editions of journals written by academicfeminist historians focussed on women, religion and citizenship, and on theplace of religion in historical analys is .' In the specific area of the history ofwomen religious, meticulous Iy documented texts have been writtenby McGrath 5 and Mcl.ay'. In 1997 the firs t text on the his tory of all theIns tit u tes of Women Religious in Australia was pu blished", canvas singthe origins of thos e groups} their foundation and development within thecontext of emerging Australian society. Thus a beginning appears to havebeen made to incorporate research in this area in Australia into the

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Education Research and Perspectives) Vol.28, No. I, 2001

Resurrecting theReligious Experiences of

Catholic Girls' Schooling inSouth Australia in the 1920s

Stephanie BurleyAdelaide University

25

IIII~IIII!121191

26 Stepbanie Burley

academic mainstream, and women religious and their various apostolates arebeginning to be perceived as a significant group in Australian history.

In the history of education, Catholic schooling has remained relativelyuntouched apart from a voluminous study of Catholic education in 1959. 8

Since then there has been little focus on Catholic schooling. In the 1960sand 1970s historians of Catholic Education were more concerned with theissue of state aid and the direction of Catholic education.' Throughoutthe period there have been ins titu tional his tories, often hagiographic innature, In the 1980s, Noeline Kyle" in a study of the history of schoolingin New South Wales incorporated a chapter on Catholic girls secondaryschooling. In this s he included, as in a previous article", a discuss ion of therole of religious females in teaching, Theobald did likewise." Thus it is onlyrelatively recently that acknowledgment of these women as teachers hasbeen recognised. Even less attention has been paid to their schools.However. the latter appears to be changing, with new work on the subjectemerging in the 1990s.13

In 1992 Harold Silver" highlighted silences in the his tory of educationin the United States and Great Britain, particularly the lack of res earch ineducational policy relating to disability, to the poor, and to the education ofCatholics. Concerning the latter, Silver argues that in the United States,despite some work in the field, it does not add up 'to a serious, widespreadhistorical commitment to bringing the parochial school, the Catholic, theChris tian, the religious experience into the canon of educational his tory' .15

He argues further that in Britain this has been due to the preoccupationwith the state and with the social class basis of educational differences:

The experience of Catholic schooling in the twentieth century "has been seenas largely irrelevant to such a focus. In neither country has the experience ofreligion and schooling been brought into any central position in the historyof education.

16

This is true of Aus tralia als 0) at leas t un til very recently. Furthermore,Silver argues that whils t educational his tory canvasses the educationalsystern as such with its ins t itu tions and schools, it does not extend to ahis tory of those engaged in the process, namely the student in theclassroom. In both countries the dominant emphasis 'has obscured anyhistorical picture of what it has meant ... to be a student"."

I intend to res pond to two of the challenges pas ed by Silver, byfocussing my research in two of the areas he deems neglected-namelythe Catholic female student and her religious experience in not only theclassroom bur also in the broader Catholic school community.

Ij

Barbara Fink els tein" is concerned with the nature of such community.She argues that schools

not only reflect and define economic opportunity and political power, but ...nurture a sense of community identity ... and forge social bonds, evoke loyalty,

19 .

compel allegiance, exact commitment and organise meaning.

Catholic girls' schools have evoked a particular form of religiouscommunity which can be des cribed and analys ed. It has been s ugges ted that'historians will have to ... include the study of ordinary people, face-to-facecontexts and the evolution of human co nscious nes st " To do this thehistorian will need a range of methodological tools, some of which shementions including 'thick description, ethnography, psychohistory, ."rhetorical theory material culture, iconography, and collectivebiography'. 21 To this I would add traditional archival material in the form ofwritten sources. It is this material, in combination with several oral sourcesthat I employ in my discussion of Catholic girls' schooling, and theirreligious experience within this particular form of community. This will addto the proces S 0 f 'retrieving his tory as lived and cons tructed in small socialcircles ... and an array of the previously Invisible'."

In Australia, historians of school histories have been alertedto incorporate the 'lived experience' of the student and not just thehagiographic aspirations of the elite." This requirement is necessaryin order to 'view those participating in the education as being as-active inshaping what happened as those who sought to determine the publicstructure'." In addition they have been given directions for such research,indicating the need to explore symbols and metaphors, and the complex webof discourses in which the identity of students is located, It was alsosugges ted that cultural and pos tcultural theoris ts help us to unders ta nd thecomplexity of the' lived experience' and the cons truction of cons cious ness.In a further article, Trimingham jack" illustrates these points witha particular case study, emphasising her belief that the focus of schoolhistory should be on experience and the formation of subjectivity" settingan example for others to emula te. In this paper I propose to focus on thereligious practices and environment in the 1920s, in two South AustralianCatholic girls I secondary schoofs: Cabra Conven t, es tablished by the Iris hDominicans in 1884 and St. Aloysius College founded by the Sisters of Mercyin 1880.

27Religious Experiences of Catholic Girls' Schooling

28 Stepbani e Burley

Setting the Scene

In Australia in this period mos t educational ins titu tions of the CatholicChurch were staffed by a female labour force from religious communities,whose numbers increased dramatically in the latter decades of the 19thcentury, Yet, according to Sally Kennedy:

The impact of this flood of religious and their participation in the rapidlyexpanding Catholic education system in the late nineteenth and early twentiethcenturies, has yet to be adequately assessed in terms of women's history

zrin Australia.

In addition to Ronald Fogarty's figures", Corrigan" gives us a breakdownof religious teaching s isters compared to teaching brothers in the period1885 to 1935, Whils t both increased eight fold, the real comparison lies interms of numbers involved: 8500 sisters as compared with 950 brothers. This

is clarified by Sis ter Pauline Fitz-Walter30

who lis ts in chronological orderthe groups of religious s isters who served in educational ins titutionsin Australia from 1846 to 1910. In the 1880s alone thirty orders of sis tersbegan work in Australian dioceses, compared with only four of teachingbrothers and three of priests, These women were given little option in thesecond half of the 19th century but to teach, The crisis of education inthe his tory of the Australian Catholic Church demanded that commitment.According to the Australasian Catholic Directory in 1880, the total number of

teaching sisters was 815; in 1910 it was 5081.31

Fitz-Walter argues that thesewomen not only 'focused .', energies in the building up of Catholicschools ,32 but their schools became the beginning of a 'natural centreof vital evangelical operations purporting to build up the body of the

particular local church '." If this is true, the sisters were of crucialimportance not only because of their numbers but also because of theirinfluence.

The emergence of the Catholic sys tern of schooling in South Australla canbe understood only by situating it in its unique social and educationalcontext. In idealistic terms, education was perceived by the colonialfounders as essential to their vision of a liberal democratic society.Education was planned in many forms (infant schools, schools 'on theBritish system', higher branches of education, agriculture and trade) and forboth labourers and landholders. From the beginning) given the degree of

religious pluralism in the colony as describ ed by Hilliard and Hunt, 34 andthe religious base of education, schooling was to be developed by voluntarycontribu tions. Although government funding became available to thechurches for a short period, between 1846 and 1851, it was withdrawn finallyin 1851, and by 1863 a Catholic Central School Fund was helping at least

fifteen Catholic schools, but there was little unity of purpose. This was to

achieved by' 1867 through the sys tern initiated in the 1860s I des cribed as a'product of Dr. Shiel's episcopate':

the plan upon which it was based and the credit for its introduction belongalmost exclusively (my emphasis) to his secre tary and director of educationalaffairs in the diocese; the energetic, controversial and 'gifted Father Tenison

35Woods,

In this explanation 0'£ Catholic education in South Australia, mentionis made only of two of the three prime protagonists in this venture-namelythe two males, Sister Mary MacKillop is not mentioned, nor is it stated thatthe implementation and survival of the system lay in the hands of hundredsof female religious teachers although this is made apparent later in thearticle. This subject has been explored more fully by Marie Foale in her

study of the Sisters of St. joseph." She highlights the Sisters' conflicts withbishops, immense physical hardships, and severe monetary problems, Thisindigenous institute of sisters developed and managed elementary schoolsfor the children of the lower-middle class and working-class families countrytowns and working-class suburbs.

In addition to the Sisters of St. Joseph, 5 everal religious orders cameto South Australia and taught a wealthier group of female" Catholic and non­Catholic students, and it is these orders on which I focus my research. The

Australian Catholic directories ," available from 1880, provide us withinformation regarding South Australia's 'superior schools', the sisters andbrothers who ran them, and their student numbers. These schools are seenas a distinct category, separate from parish primary schools run by theSisters of St. j oseph , Their students are differentiated by sex, and by theirs ta tus as boarders or day pupils. I have collated the s t atis tics of the girls'superior schools at five-yearly intervals, and scrutiny of the figures

highlights aspects of growth and expans ion."From analys is of thes e figures it is clear that increasing numbers

of Catholic girls and boys in the 19th century in South Australia wereundertaking secondary schooling. What is not apparent from the tablesis the fact that mos t of the female teaching orders were in fact running twoor three schools in addition to their superior school: for example, anintermediate, 'poor' or primary school, and in one case an orphanage andHouse of Mercy.

Although I concentrate on two Orders, the Sisters of Mercy, the IrishDominicans, and in particular their superior schools for girls in Adelaide,other Orders of sisters came in the late 19th century and early 20th centuryto do similar work. Thes e included the English Dominicans (1883), the

29Religious Experiences a/Catholic Girls' Schooling

30 St epbani e Burley

Sisters of the Good Samaritan (1902), Sisters of Mercy from Broken Hill(1902) and the Sisters of the Institute of the Blessed Virgin-Loreto Sisters(1905). Thes e orders were to expand and es tab lish select schools in ' 'metropolitan Adelaide and rural South Australia

Who Were These Students?

Due to a lack of complete school registers, or in some cases a Jack of anyschool registers in this period, I have no detailed demographic study of thestudents of the schools. However, there is plenty of evidence which pointsin the direction of a predominantly middle-class clientele. Such evidence isfound in the fee structures, boarding requirements for studen ts 1 uniformstyles, and account books. The detailed and extensive nature of boardingschool requirements at St.Aloysius College in 1917 indicates the high addedexpense in sending a daughter to board, Such requirements were as follows:

a good supply of underclothing, two black pinafores, two school frocks, onebest frock (black velvet), one best white frock, one tussore coat, one panamahat, one gem hat, one school badge, one dressing wrapper, one bedgown, onepair of bedroom slippers, one pair of tennis shoes, two pairs of walking shoes,two pairs of sheets, two pairs of blankets, three pillow cases, one counterpane,

'39three towels, three serviettes and ring and toiletries

To supply the necessary clothing and bedding and to pay the feesparents had to have a considerable income. Comparison of fee structures

and the average wage of the period, substantiates this ."Strict class differentiation was apparent in the schools set up by the

Sisters of Mercy and the Dominicans. On one site Cabra Dominicans hadthree schools: the select school, the intermedia te school and the poorschool, and pupils were not expected to mix with their counterparts in theother schools. Later, this 0 rder was to reduce this to two schools only, theups tairs and the downs tairs , again differentiated along socio-economic

lines." Similarly, the Mercy sisters established and developed St. AloysiusCollege as the superior school, a parish primary school, and a House ofMercy for the domes tic training of working class migrant girls. By the 1920sCarmel Bourke, a student at St. Aloysius College in this decade describedthe family background of the boarders at this select school as follows:

from middle class families and chiefly from Irish Australian parentage. I do notremember any really poor girls, though many had to live very economically, butneither do I recall any really wealthy girls, ... A variety of backgrounds-a fewfrom professional families; lawyers, doctors, pharmacists-but the majority oftheir fathers were white collar men, teachers, bank clerks, public servants,accountants, ete. Their mothers did not go out to work, ,., A small percentage of

~-

non Catholics ... seve ral of my companions were Jews, and they used to attend42

the Synagogue on Saturday mornings.

education for women now means something more than it did in the past. Thenthe girl was trained for home life only; now so changed are conditions thatwoman invades those occupations that were formally left exclusively to men.

44

All in all there is sufficient evidence to argue that the secondary studentsin these two schools can be differentiated from other Catholic schoolsin terms of clas s , and this is what the s isters in tended.

31Religious Experiences of Catholic Girls' Schooling

The Religious Cultural Practices and Environment

The sisters as both administrators of their schools and teachers inthe classrooms were pragmatic and innovative enough to perceive theoccupational and technological changes within society and als 0 thechanging nature of the family as more women entered the work force. Assuch they could respond to parental aspirations for their daughters, Incombination, 'with the professionalisation of teaching in Catholic girls'schools, the decline of the lady) and the growing emphasis on externalexamination results tied to university entrance as a measure of educational

worth"." the schools provided a multiplicity of courses from which thestudents could choose. An extract from Cabra's school magazine Veritas in1918, describes the changes in female education and acknowledges:

A woman of culture, and of refinement, of discernment and of judgment, onein whom the reasoning faculties are perfectly balanced with the emotional, andabove and before all one of noble charity and blameless purity, that in allthings she may be a true woman in whatever vocation she may choose. 45

Accordingly it was possible to study for university entrance and thesisters encouraged able students to do so. Paradoxically, in the same article,the idealised womanhood which the sisters had as their aim-the building upof a perfect womanly character) was defined as:

Therefore, at the same time as there may have been an apparent declineof the 'lady' in society, the evidence in Catholic girls' secondary schoolsindicates that, as girls increas ingly undertook cours es which wouldcredential them for occupations in the public world of work, the stricturesand guidelines for their femininity increas ed corres pondingly, and religionplayed a large part in this emphasis. It is this cons tructed environmenton which I wish to focus.

The informal aspects, or hidden agenda of these schools, illustrate thatthe nuns erected not only phys ical barriers, but also implemented religious

32 Stepbani e Burley

and social observances to protect their students supposedly frompollutants, such as 'the Devil', the public world of men, their morallyinferior working-elas s coun terparts , and non-Ca tholic Chris tians.

In the 1930 Constitution of the Dominican Sisters of South Australia, whoran Cabra, there were several instructions which exemplify the strategies tobe enforced to protect and encourage girls I religious development. Teacherswere admonis hed to

shield her, as far as lies with them, from learning aught that is contrary to theCatholic religion and good morals; whether by positive teaching or by

. %unnecessary and avoidable contact with non-Catholics.

The intersection of religion, morality, and femininity is highlighted bya further instruction given about dancing, callisthenics and the like. 'The

law of feminine modesty and reserve" was to be emphasised, physical gameswere to be chos en that were suitable for girls, and, 'books and papers for

their recreative reading should be carefully censored'. 48 At St. AloysiusCollege it was stated as an attraction for parents in the 1917 Pros pectus that

'All correspondence to and from the boarders is subject to Ins pectiori'" Itappears that the number of directives increased as time progressed, perhapsas the world outside became more threatening and more obtrusiv-e.

Therefore, although it is quite apparent that an increasing numberof students were preparing for the university public examinations, businessand commercial courses, it was in an increasingly intense environment ofcultivated religious femininity.

In trying to ascertain the environment in which the nuns taught and thestudents learnt, it is crucial to go much further than a bare des cription ofsubjects taught and directives given. This is particularly true for boarderswho were more immersed in the religious atmosphere and regimentedroutines of convent life. These boarders were of course influenced not onlyby their classroom teacher or teachers, but by a mistress in charge ofboarders and the pervas ive pres ence of all others in the nearby convent, andlay sisters working in their boarding house. This signal influence bypowerful women, has been documented elsewhere" and their pervasivepres ence mus t be kept in mind in the following des cription of this formof community life.

The Cabra Dominican sisters incorporated into their 1930s constitutiona section relating to boarders, indicating the need to encourage attendanceat mass, reception of the sacraments and additional instruction from'chaplains or other priests'. It further stipulated that the teachers should'stimulate their sense of corporate and social religion by the establishmentof suitable associations and sodalities '. They were also encouraged to

rose at 6 o'clock but school began at 8.55, broken only for lunch and studentswere dismissed at 3.45. For boarders there was now one hour of study before

. . 52tea and one and a half hours study after It; and they retired at 9.00.

develop within the students a 'voluntary practice of religion'." Thiscertainly seems to have been incorporated in the daily routine of boarders.By the 1920s students still

This same old scholar makes quite clear the compuls ory natureof morning prayers said together at Our Lady's Altar, daily mass, rosary inthe chapel after tea, night prayers together, followed by an introductionto meditation. Breakfast was taken in silence so that a recollection of masscould be maintained. Many other spiritual exercises pervaded the day,

The pervasive spirituality was complemen ted by the notion of theboarders as 'ladies'. They had few household tasks to perform, washed onlytheir own dishes, never went into the kitchen, and were taught fancywork interms of tray cloths, supper cloths, doilies and embroidered silk shawls.Many of the boarders learnt to play the piano, singing or elocution, and,as shown previous ly, practice times were incorporated into the dailyroutine. Finally, in times of recreation, these students were fortunate in

having extens ive grounds, Mary Sweeney" des cribes the many walks,including the wattle walk, the cemetery walk, the orchards and vines andthree aven ues: There were als 0 tennis courts and swings and a farm run bythe man at the lodge and the lay sis ters. However, the boarders had to stickto prescribed limits, the wattle walk, and were not allowed into the orchardsor farm.

Recreation days such as St. Dominic's Day, a gala day for sisters andboarders, were fondly recalled. Mary remembers special meals, parlourgames, girls making up for concerts in the evening, plays and dancing, Theseaspects of boarding at Cabra in the period under discussion highlight thesignificant intersection of religion and gender. Much more must be addedto understand the full complexity and numerous influences in the lives ofthe s tuden ts .

In describing boarding life at St. Aloysius College, I rely considerablyon an oral testimony and the written reminiscences of Carmel Bourke. Thismaterial is subject to the limitations of any oral history interview, written asit was in 1991 about boarding school life in the 1920s, However, thesedescriptions reflect an eye for considerable detail, a lovely command of thelanguage, and a refreshing indication of warmth, unders tanding, humour andhuman foible, Carmel was a boarder at the college between 1920 and 1926where she matriculated in the Senior Public Examination 'in 1922, She thenwon a probationary s tuden ts hip, a two-year scholars hip, preliminary to

33Religious Expert ences of Catholi c Girls' Schooling

34 St epb ani e Burley

--J;

going to Adelaide Teachers' College, which could only be taken in a Statehigh school. She therefore completed her secondary studies at Adelaide HighSchool but remained in the college boarding school as a 'parlour boarder'during the years 1923 to 1926. Discipline within this boarding school seemedto centre on an assembly of the boarders every Friday evening:

Rather a dreaded affair, since she [the boarding school mistress] gave usa little homily on our behaviour and her expectations of us, dealt with allcomplaints in a very summary fashion, and distributed bad marks to any youngdelinquents: these were dreaded, as they carried various little penalties and

54deprivations.

Putting this into context we must add that Carmel Bourke suggests thatthere was

a feeling of camaraderie in the boarding school, it was a cheerful homely placeand some deep friendships were formed, both with the sisters and with the

55school companions.

The sisters in charge of the boarders were perceived as 'kind and caring

people, genuinely concerned for our welfare'." She includes in her writtenreminiscences a detailed daily timetable, which again highlights the religiouscommitment, the time set aside for study and practice, and some free timeallocated to recreation.

Carmel Bourke provides us with detailed descriptions of their weekends.She recollects the Sunday walk:

on Sunday morning after mass, we could often persuade the two sistersaccompanying us to take us to the Botanical Gardens. This had the addedattraction of taking a route down Rundle Street, and window shopping as wedawdled along. There was a further attraction in the kiosk at the gardens,if one was lucky enough to have a little pocket money. These walks were done

in crocodile fashion, two by two with the senior girls at the top and the sistersat the rear. And of course the full regalia was worn-gloves and black shoes and

S7stockings and those dreaded hats.

Prior to the walk the boarders had attended mass in the Cathedral where

Saint Aloysius girls and Christian Brothers' College boys sang appropriatehymns, with a Christian Brother walking up and down the aisle to conduct and

58to ensure our reverent decorum.

t:1

I,··,, -

i'?

IIIIIi

I~

!I,!

It is apparent that

the sisters placed in charge of the boarders were a significant influence in ourschool lives ... They cared for us when we were Sick, rook a great interestin our activities in school, comforted the lonely, scolded the troublesome,minded our pocket money for us, and made very sure that we did not spend itextrav~§antly: in fact, they stood in loco parentis to us while we wene away fromhome.

Occasionally we would attend a matinee music recital at the Adelaide Town Hall,or the Elder Conservatorium. In summer the sisters would take us down to thebeach ... and go for a swim, modestly undressing in the sisters' bathing box,a little shed on the foreshore, up against the sandhills. Then would follow thedelights of tea on the beach, and a journey back to school by train in the cool

. 59everung.

35Religious Exp eri ences DJ Catholi c Girls' Schooling

This des cription of Sunday morning is a fine example of the religiousgendering of the students. Sunday afternoons were for letter writing toparents and for receiving visitors,

Carmel Bourke's reminiscences also highlight the ladylike behaviourexpected of these girls on all occasions. Saturdays were no different. Thesisters took the students out as often as they could:

The boarders were influenced by several more teaching sis ters than theircounterparts, the day scholars, and were immersed in convent life almosttotally,

As well as an emphasis on distinctly feminine behaviour, there was alsodistinctive feminine components of their religious education, both formaland informal. In most cases these components seemed clearly andsignificantly to strengthen the traditional Victorian notions of acceptablefemininity and separate spheres. Certain dominants pirit ual doctrines andexercises were emphasised by nuns in their schools. According to O'Farrell,femininity was expressed in two major roles, the ideal Mary and the oppos iteEve. 61 Mary's femininity, especially her domes tic virtues, chas tity andmodesty in particular, were applauded. Eve was denigrated. Seen asda ughters of Eve, women were habitually portrayed as both weak anddangerous. An excellent example of this was published for Cabra students intheir 1918 school magazine in an article entitled 'Aperuisti CredentibusRegna Coelorum ':

Eve hearkened to the deceiver, Mary to her Maker: man's whole lot waschanged by the free choice of two women. Eve's choice led to -the world'sdescent, but Marys to the throne of God. Thus is Eve the type and cause ofwoman's condition before Christ, Mary the type and cause of Christian woman's

. . 62place, honour and dig nlty.

36 Stephanie Burley

Initials only are available at the end but this approach is resonantof male clerical sophistry. Whilst it is difficult to ascertain to what degree itwas used by the sisters and how it influenced female adolescents, it is,nevertheless, the public face of the Church's religious teaching for girls.In addition, other models of femininity proffered by the sisters to theirstudents were the long-suffering, often oppressed female saints: for exampleSt. Monica, the anguished mother of St. Augustine, and the elderly pregnantSt. Elizabeth. They were revered, as were statues of Our Lady and devotionto the rosary. Adolescent girls were encouraged to pray to succeed in beingmodels of Mary in purity and grace.

One anonymous recollection of a retreat in 1918 describes such annualoccurrences in their regimen ted form:

Each morning we had Holy Mass at 7.30; the lectures were at 11 o'clock, 3 and7 pm., and after evening instruction we had Benediction of the Most HolySacrament. Our free time was spent in reading the lives of the saints,in meditation and visits to the Blessed Sacrament; we said the rosary incommon, and had our hour for sewing and lighter duties.

63

In May special prayers were said daily in honour of Our Lady:

her altar on a bracket on the wall, was elaborately decorated with lace and bluesatin drapings, and surrounded with flowers and candles. The sisters useda special set of devotions, consisting of hymns and readings and prayers:·

Similarly in June the school again assembled at the altar, in front ofa large picture of the Sacred Heart with scarlet satin drapes and lace, with

red flowers and candles." Holy days of obligation, other important feastdays, and the sisters' patronal feast days were all fully explained, and manytimes celebrated with a long play in the lunch time, an early afternoondismissal, and in the case of a Mistress of Schools and Mistress of Boarders,an evening concert ending with 'a little party to the joy of the always hungryboarders' 66 One particular feast day which appears to stand out in thememories of all students interviewed was St. Patrick's Day, with itsprocession and tableaux. These were prepared by most of the schools andthey 'cons is ted of lorries or trolleys drawn by draught horses, ... even thehorses wore festoons and bunting on their harnes s '." These tableauxdramatised Irish history and legends in a spectacular way. In addition, therewere sports and a grand concert at night, all reflecting Irish-Australianfervour.

Carmel Bourke des cribes well the daily 'living out of one's Catholicity

in a convent school'." She admits to being very impressionable due to her!previous primary education in a small one-teacher country public school. I

!'Jjn

Religious Exp eri ences of Catholi c Girls' Schooling 37

The tone was 'essentially Christian and high moral standards weremaintained; but it was necessarily "free public and secular" as government

statutes ins is ted.:" She relates her experience on the first day of schoolat SI. Aloysius College when

The Signal was given for morning prayer, and everyone knelt on the floorbeside her desk. I whispered to my neighbour 'My stockings will get dirty!'to her great amusement, but I had just 'gone into stockings' and was proud ofthem .... That first day was full of surprises for me-a prayer before each lessonbegan-a Hail Mary when the clock struck-the Angelus recited together at

70noon-and a hymn sung at the close of the day, A whole new way of life!

In this period when there were no Students' Representative Councils,prefects or even house captains in the schools, the role of leadership andresponsibility was seen in being a Child of Mary. It was coveted by most andseen as a great honour except for those who rated it as too holy,An invitation to join was usually issued about the senior public examinationlevel, and after a period of probation, in which behaviour and piety weremonitored, the student would be consecrated as a Child of Mary at aceremony, Mary, of course, was to be emulated at all times, and devotionalprayers and hymns were to be said and sung regularly, Acco,mpanyingaccoutrements were a blue cloak, a ribbon, a badge and sometimes a veil.The dominant virtues that a Child of Mary aimed for were purity, modestyand devotion to the Blessed Virgin,

As well as the informal religious rituals permeating the daily lives ofpupils, there were formal Christian doctrine lessons. Every day each classhad one lesson of this nature, described by Mary Sweeney at the senior levelas being

apologetics in religion, we were taught like little seminarians ,.. with muchemphasis on the Dominican influence on study and learning and Dominican feast

71days and saints,

The esteem with which the sisters regarded this subject is seen in thenumber of prizes that they gave for Christian doctrine, The primary religioustraining in Catholic schools in catechism, Bible stories, prayers and hymns,was continued into the junior secondary classes. Although not part of theirsecondary education, students remembered vividly their first confession,communion and confirmation with its attendant rituals indicating religiousrites of passage. These formal and informal religious practices permeated thelives of these students, inculcating strong notions of acceptable religiousand cultural femininity,

Finally, discussion of the education of such young women is incompletewithout reference to their sensory perceptions. No formal documents like

cons titutions, pros pect i, annals or prize giving reports touch on suchmatters, Yet students I reminis cences are riddled with references to aural,visual and olfactory recollections, Mention has been made of aural aspectsof school life: for example, bells for the Angelus, lesson times, nuns'personal bells, hymns generally, and music, both choral and ins trumental.Vis ual perceptions may have been implied in some dis cuss ions, but theinfluence of such theatrical rituals with their incumbent architecturalsetting, icons, costumes-for example, priests' vestments, nuns' flowinghabits, students I white communion dresses and veils-all left impres sions onyoung students. One such dramatic and formal occasion and its impact onstudents is described by Cabra pupils in their publication Veritas in 1918:

38 St epbani e Burley

St. ]oseph's Month brought us the great pr ivi lege of being present at theclothing of two postulants and the profession of four novices, Our hearts wereimpressed with the solemnity of the ceremony, the beauty of which wasenhanced by the exquisite singing of the choir, ... After it was over '" eachsought to be the first to greet the newly professed, upon whose faces there was

72a look of holy joy, It was a day we shall long remember,

In addition the architectural beauty of chapels, cloisters, and the manypaintings and statues, indicate the extent to which students were immersedin much more than a simple set of subjects, Finally, smells such as beeswax,

I

incense, cabbage, roses all left a lasting impression to complete the picture,Fink els tein does not define what she means by 'thick des criptio n ', but

by combining traditional written sources and oral and writtenreminiscences, I believe the result is a multifaceted description of Catholicgirls schooling in their intense religious environment, perhaps getting closeto what Finkelstein might have meant by 'thick description',

Conclusion

Historians generally use theory to inform their research. In the late 1970sand early 19805, the work done by several theoris ts 73 could have beenapplied to an analysis of these schools. There appears little doubt, forexample, that there was a strong tendency to reproduce particularideological formations, in this case religious and gender ones, Such socialtheorists argued that students are likely to bring to their schoolingparticular class and gender attitudes and, I would add, religious values,regarding their individuality, role in society and attitudes to work, marriageand motherhood. Some social structures were seen to reinforce these formsof differentiation and 'work to legitimate this ideology at the collectivelevel,.74 Barton and Walker agree that

\ '

such gender differentiation was produced and reproduced through theoperation of patriarchal ideologies in places of work, ... in family life and in

• 75cultural forms and practices.

most women neither totally accept or reject femininity, but make concessions toit, and the contradictory demands of femininity and self esteem. They adoptfemininity to their own ends, resist it in subtle ways, and use it to ward off its

77consequences,

Catholic girls' schools certainly prescribed religious practices andattitudes which reinforced the dominant femininity of the period.

However, I would argue that the work ofJean Anyon indicates that therewas a more complex process of accommodation and resistance evident

in responses of women to appropriate sex role attitudes and behaviours ."The contradictory messages sent by powerful religious women, ambitious forthe academic success of their s tudents, yet encouraging the religious andgender roles of marriage and motherhood, can be easily accounted for byAnyon's notion that

39Religious Experiences of Catholic Girls' Schooling

The exis tence of activis ts such as Bella Guerin, Susan Ryar:, GermaineGreer) Ann Summers and many other Catholic women who had extensiveschooling in Catholic convents, yet nevertheless entered the public world ofwork and frequently challenged accepted notions of womanly behaviour,reflects the usefulness of such a theory,

In the 1980s) his torians could have argued that such convent schoolsprovided a fine illus tration of 'double conformity' .78 Delamont defines thisconcept as the strategy used by educational institutions for girls in the 19thcentury, to ensure that females could study male subjects and evenundertake univers ity study, whils t at the same time safeguarding theirfemininity by enforcing rights and rituals to protect their students. Theres ult was that many female students undertook a double load in orderto study male knowledge and skills, whilst at the same time prove to theirparents and society that they could also excel in the traditional femaleaccomplishments. In South Australian Catholic superior schools there isevidence to substantiate such a concept, Yet this too is a limited analysis,

as Theobald has highlighted." Scott in fact alludes to the 'opportunityrather than the conformity' in her study of girls in private schools, 80

However useful theorists have been, some would consider application oftheir ideas today as outmoded, Historians of Education appear to be moreinfluenced by pos t-s tructuralis ts J who pos e yet another analytical devicewhereby one could describe the same double approach to girls' educationas contradictory discourses which girls had to negotiate, thus giving them agreater sense of agency. These two discourses could be defined as the use of

male knowledge and skills, (encouragement of univers ity en trance andintellectual growth) within a female framework, (the exaggerated cultivationof femininity). Nor, I would argue, were there only two forces at work. Thefurther component of religious conformism intersected with these genderpractices, along with pass ible career structures and varied pers analitycharacteris tics. The pos t-s tructuralis ts might express this as the 'nonunitary nature of self"." Valverde articulates it more eloquently when statingthat the unity of an individual is constructed 'in the ebb and flow ofconflicting meanings genera ted by various discours es ':82

From this analysis, it is apparent that Catholic girls in secondaryconvent schools had to contend with contradictory gender and religiousdiscourses, which interacted in a complex manner, Scott articulates clearlythese paradoxes in schoolgirl femininity as it simultaneously represented'tradition and modernity, subservience and autonomy, liberation andins t itut ionahs atio n"." She argues further that within these girls schools,one of which was St. Aloyius College:

4D Stepbanie Burley

femininity could extend, modify Of redefine itself, although even those changeswhich appeared to stretch [he boundaries of femininity were j us tifi ed in terms

84of conservative ideals and were not intended to subvert the glender order,

Religion in the form of denominational influences, she s ugges ts ,

'produced their own variants of masculinity and femininity';" This paperhas shown the many ways that Roman Catholicism in girls' schoolsinfluenced significantly the students I gender formation, In so doing, myres earch has addressed Scott's challenge to recognis e the

awareness of contextual variation and subtleties in gender construction whichmay be linked with people's profoundest beliefs about the meaning of human

. 86life,

, .

•

Religion, in this case Catholicism, whilst at times both liberating and yetlimiting, was a crucial factor in such development.

1.

NOTES

Collins, Paul, 'Believe it or not', The Australian's Review of Books, 1998, Vo1.3,Issue 4, p,18, This is substantiated by recent publications such as: Gauchet,Marcel, The Disenchantment of the World: a Political History of Religion,Princetan University Press 1997; Polkingharne, John, Belief in God in an Age ofScience, Yale University Press, 1998; Thompson, Darnian , The End of Time: Faith

.~

I

and Fear in the Shadow of the Millenium, Sincl air-Steve nson , 1996; Worthing,Mark William, God, Creation and Contemporary Physics, Fortress Press, 1998

2. Carey, Hilary M., Believing in Australia: A Cultural History of Religions, Alienand Unwin, 1996, p.xii . This is also illustrated in Carey et aI, 'AustralianReligion Review, 1980-2000, Part 1: Surveys, Bibliographies and ReligiousOther Than Christianity', Journal of Religious History, VoI.23, No. 3, 2000, andCarey et al, 'Australian Religion Review, 1980-2000, Part 2: ChristianDenominations', Journal of Religious History, Vol. 25, No. 1,2001

3. Grimshaw, Patr ici a, 'In pursuit of True Anglican Womanhood in Victoria, 1880­1914', Women's History Review, Vo!. 2, No. 3, pp,331-47, Smart, ]udith, "Forthe Good that We Can Do': Cecilia Downing and Feminist Christian Citizenship',Australian Feminist Studies, Vol. 25, No. 19, 1994, pp, 39-60, Massam,Katharine, 'Transcending the Body: Gender, Sexuality and Holiness in AustralianCatholicism' in Hetherington, P., And Maddern, P., (e ds.). Sexuality and Genderin History, University of Western Australia, 1993, O'Br i e n Anne, '''A ChurchFull of Men" Masculism and the Church in Australian History', AustralianHistorical Studies, Vol. 25, No. lOO, pp. 437-57, West, [ane t, Daughters ofFreedom: A History of Women in the Australian Church, Albatross Books Pty.Lrd., 1997,

4. Alle n, Margaret, Holton, Sandra Stanl ey and MacKinnon, Alison, (eds.) 'Women,Religion and Citizenship: Intersections', Australian Feminist Studies, Vol.13,No. 28, 1998, and Holton, Sandra Stanley, MacKinnon, Alison, AlIen, Margaret,(e ds.) Women's History Review, Vol. 7, No. 2, 1998.

5. McGrath, Sophie, These Women: Women Religious in the History of Australia:The Sisters of Mercy, Parramatta 1888-1988, University of NSW Press, 1989.

6. McLay, Anne, Women out of Their Sphere: A History of the Sisters of Mercy inWestern Australia, Vanguard Press, 1992, and Women on the Move: Mercy'sTriple Spiral: A History of the Adelaide Sisters of Mercy: Ireland to Argentina1856-1880 to South Australia 1880, Sisters of Mercy Adelaide, 1996.

7. MacGinley, M. R., A Dynamic of Hope: Institutes of Women Religious inAustralia, Crossing Press, 1996,

8. Fogarty, Ronal d, Catholic Education in Australia Vol 1-11, Melbourne UniversityPress, 1959,

9. Brassil, ]. T, C. and Daffey, B, M, (eds.), The Catholic School in a PluralistSociety, Melbourne Catholic Education Office, 1971, Crittenden, B, S., 'TheFuture of Catholic Education', in D'Urso, E. (e d.), Counterpoints: CriticalWritings on Australian Education, John Wiley and Sons, 1971, Gill, P, (ed.),Catholic Education: Where is it Going? Cassell, 1972, Haines, G" Lay Catholicsand the Education Question in 19th Century NSW, Catholic Theological Faculty,1978, Hogan, M. C" The Catholic Campaign for State Aid-a study of a pressuregroup campaign in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, 1950­1972, Catholic Theological Faculty, 1978.

10. Kyle, Noeline, Her Natural Destiny, NSW University Press, 1986.11. Kyle, Noeline, 'The Perninis ation of Teaching in NSW: A Historical Perspective',

Australian Journal of Education, Vol.27, Nc.L, 1983.12. Theobald, Marjorie, in Theobald, M, R, and Selleck, R.J.W. (eds.), Family,

School and State in Australian History, Alien and Unwin, 1990, p.2513. Kavanagh, M., 'The Educational Work of the Presentation Sisters in Victoria

1873-1960', M. Ed, Thesis, University of Melbourne, 1990. Le wi s, C. N.,

Religious Expert ences of Catboli c Girls' Schooling 41

42

14.

15.16.17.18.

19.20.21.22.23.

24.25.26.27.

28.29.

30.

31.32.33.34

35.

36

3738.39.

Stepbanie Burley

'Provision for the Education of Catholic Women in Australia Since 1840', Ph.D.thesis, University of Melbourne, 1990. Burley, Stephanie, 'None MoreAnonymous? Catholic Teaching Nuns, their Secondary Schools and Students inSouth Australia 1880-1925', M. Ed. thesis, University of Adelaide, 1992.Trimingham Jack, Christine, 'Sacred Symbols, School ideology and theConstruction of Subjectivity', Conference Proceedings of The Australian andNew Zealand History of Education Society, University of Newcastle, 1997.Trimingham Jack, Chr lstine , 'Kerever Park: a history of teachers and children ina Catholic girls' preparatory boarding school 1944-1965', Ph. D. thesis,

University of Sydney, 1997Silver, Harold, 'Knowing and not Knowing in the History of Education', History

of Education, Vol.21, No.l, 1992, pp.97-108.

Ibid. p.l03.Ibid. p.l03.Ibid. p.l04.Finkelstein, Barbara, 'Educational historians as mythmakers', Review of Res earcb

in Education, Vol. 18, 1992, pp.255-297Ibid. p.285.Ibid.Ibid. p.287.Ibid. p.259.Trimingham Jack, Christine, 'School History: Reconstructing rhe LivedExperience', History of Education Review, Vo1.26, No. 1, 1997, pp.42-55

Ibid. p.46.Trimingham Jack, Christine, 'Sacred Symbols'.

Ibid. p.587.Kennedy, Sally, Faith and Feminism: Catholic Women's struggles for self

expression, Dove Communications, 1985, p.66.Fogarty, Catholic Education in Australia, p.208.Corrigan, U., 'The Achievements of the Catholic People of Australia In the fieldof Education', Catholic Education Congress: Adelaide, Australia November 8-15

1936, printed by the Advocate Press, 1937, pp.292, 294.Fitz-Walter, Pauline, 'Commitment to Education-Its Influence on the Life Stylesof Religious Women in Australia from 1840s-1910', Australasian Catholic

Record, 54, 1977, pp.351-353.Australasian Catholic Directories, 1882-1925.Fitz-Walter, 'Commitment to Education', p.355.

Ibid. p.355.Hilliard, D. and Hunt, A. D., 'Religion', Richards, Eric (ed.), Flinders History ofSouth Australia: Social History, Wakefield Press, 1986.Saunders, G. E., 'The State and Education in South Australia, 1836-1875',Melbourne Studies in Education, 1966, p.205.Foale, Marie Therese, The josephite Story: The Sisters of St. joseph: TheirFoundation and Early History 1866-1893, St. [ose phs Generalate, Sydney,

1989.Australasian Catholic Directories.Burley, 'None More Anonymous', pp.162-164.Golden Wattle, 1917, p.60.

Il

40. Gale, Fay, Making Space: Women and Education at St.Aloysius College Adelaide1880·2000, Wakefield Press, 2000, p.4D.

41. Northey, Helen, 'St. Mary's Convent Schools', Dickey, Brian (ed.), WilliamShakespeare's Adelaide 1860-1930, Association of Professional Historians, 1992.

42. Bourke, Carmel, Notes from an interview 1991, and written memoirs, held atSt. Aloysius Convent Archives, and in my personal possession, pp.42-

43. Kennedy, Faith and Feminism, pp.67 -68.44. veritas , 1918 p.26.45. Ibid. p.27.46. Constitution, Cabra Convent Archives, Cumberland Park. South Australia 1930,

p. 75.47.' Ibid. p. 79.48. Ibid. p.79.49. Golden Wattle, 1917, p.59.50. Hurley, Stephanie, 'Lost leaders from the Convent and the

Classroom', McMahon, john , Ne i dh ar t, Helga, Chapman, judith (eds.), Leadingthe Catholic School, Spectrum Publications, 1997, and, 'Past Principals: ThePublic Pervasive Presence of Powerful Women in the Church in South Australia1880-1925', Coolahan, John, Aldrich, Richard, Simon, Frank, (eds.) PaedqgogiaHistorica. International Journal of the history of education, SupplementarySeries vol.S, Faiths and Education: Historical and ComparativePerspectives1999, and 'The Silent Sisterhoods: Catholic Nuns, their public workand influence for social change in Australia, in particular South Australia, 1880­1925'. Damousi, joy, and Eltinghaus, Kathe r in e , (eds.) Citizenship, Women, andSocial Justice: International Historical Perspectiu es His tory Departrne n t,

University of Melbourne, 1999.51. Constitution, pp. 76-77.52. Bour ke , Written Memoirs, pAO.53. Sweeney, Mary, Oral interview and handwritten reminiscences, 1991.54. Bourke, Written Memoirs, p.39.55. Ibid. p.38.56. Ibid. p.38.57. Ibid. p.41.58, Ibid. p.41.59. Ibid. p.41.60. Ibid. p.42.61. O'Farrell, P., The Catholic Church and Community in Australia, NSW University

Press, 1985, p.256 and Kennedy, Faith and Feminism, p.xi .62. Veritas, 1918, p.55.63. Centenary Veritas, p. 37.64. Bourke, Written Memoirs, p.22.65. Ibid. p.22.66. Ibid. pp.23-24.67. Ibid. p.16. Most students interviewed remembered in great detail events of

St. Patr icks Day.68. Ibid. p.21.69. Ibid. p.21.70. Ibid. p.21.71. Sweeney, Reminiscences.

Religious Experiences of Catbolic Girls' Schooling 43

44

72.73.

74.

75.76.

77.78.

79.

80.

81.

82.

83.84.85.86.

Stephani e Burley

Veritas, 1918, pp.47·48.Kuhn, Annette and Wolpe, Annemarie (eds.), Feminism and Materialism,Routle dg e , Kegan Paul, 1978. Deem, R., Women and Schooling, Routledge,Kegan Paul, 1980. Deem, R. (e d.) , Schooling for Women's Work,Routledge,Kegan Paul, 1980. Arnot, M., 'Schooling and the Reproduction of Class andGender Relations', Barton, L. et al. (eds.), Schooling, Ideology and theCurriculum, Falmer Press 1980.Walker, S. and Barton, L., 'Gender, Class and Education: A PersonalView', Walker, S. and Barton, L. (eds.), Gender, Class and Education, FalmerPress, 1983, p.3.Ibid. p.4.Anyon, Jean, 'Inte r sections of Gender and Class: Accommodation and Resistanceby Working Class and Affluent Females to Contradictory Sex Role Ideologies',Walker and Barton, Gender Class and Education, p.19.Ibid. p.26.Delamont, S., Knowledgeable Women: Structuralism and the Reproduction ofElites , Routledge, Kegan Paul, 1989.Theobald, M., Knowing Women: Origins of Women's Education in nineteenth­century Australia, Cambridge University Press, 1996, p.22.sco«, Margaret, Engendering Loyalties: the construction of masculinities,femininities and national identities in South Australian secondary schools,1880-1919, Ph.D thesis, University of Adelaide, 2000.Holloway, Wendy, 'Gender Difference and the introduction of subjectivity',Henriques, J., Holloway, W., Urwin, C., Venn, C., Walkerdene, V., Changing theSubject, Methuen, 1984, p.227.Valverde , M., 'Post-structuralist gender historians: Are we thosenames?', Labour/Le Travail, Vol.25, 1990, p.228.Scott, Engendering Loyalties, p.364.[bid p.366.Ib id p.361.Ibid p.368.

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